AT&T’s Acquisition and Earnings Season in Focus: Morning Buzzers

The U.S. markets were off to a weak start on Tuesday, despite some upbeat economic news from around the world. Market participants are reacting to at least one significant earnings miss this morning, and preparing for more major announcements later this week.

At 8:50 a.m.: DJIA:-0.16%, S&P:-0.29%, NASDAQ:-0.08%.

Here’s what’s buzzing in the pre-market:

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is off about 2 percent in the pre-market following its fourth-quarter results. The telecom company reported an earnings loss of $1.48 per share, which compares to a loss of $0.71 per share for the quarter in 2011. The company cites non-cash pension items and a negative impact from hurricane Sandy as contributors to the loss.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) is feeling the fallout from an accounting problem that surfaced over the weekend. The company announced on Friday that it will take a non-cash charge of approximately $580 million and fire several senior managers because of “deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct concealed at Siwei, located in Zhengzhou, China,” a mining-equipment manufacturer that Caterpillar bought last year.